ULSTER GOES HOLLYWOOD AS MOVIE MOGUL JETS IN

Category: Reign of Fire News | Posted by:adminArticle Date: January 21, 2001 | Publication: The People | Author: Jason JohnsonPublication/Article Link:
GLADIATOR director Ridley Scott is jetting into Ulster from his Hollywood home to see if we make the grade to feature in his upcoming films.

The millionaire Tinseltown icon arrives next month to scout the waterside spot already touted as one of the world's best movie locations.

And we can confirm that he will be followed just weeks later by a team of actors and special effects designers from Disney.

They are heading to Ulster to make part of a pounds 50m blockbuster that some say could well be the sci-fi flick of the year.

They are coming to the Paint Hall Studio, which stands just yards from where the city waved goodbye to Titanic 89 years ago.

The site, originally designed as a location to paint giant ships, is taller than almost any other in Europe.

It can hold more equipment than most designers ever hoped to control at once - meaning Belfast is set to become a high-tech movie makers' paradise.

A spokesman for Paint Hall Studio said: "Ridley Scott is just the latest.

"Major US companies like Columbia have already been here."

During April and May, film heart-throbs Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale and sexy Bond girl Isabella Scorupco will be in the city - fighting dragons down by the Laganside.

They will act in front of a 50ft screen as digital experts create fantastical scenes of London in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

The film, Reign of Fire, brings Disney dollars to Ulster for the first time in a move likely to see Paint Hall Studio booked-out well into the future.

"Reign of Fire really will be the last word in special effects," the Paint Hall spokesman said.

"Nobody can believe that Belfast is the best location to do this kind of thing.

"We don't have all the facilities that actors might need, but we have this element.